Hachi

Most dog lovers are probably familiar with the story about Hachi (Hachicko), the Akita who would accompany his owner to the train station each morning as the owner went off to work. Hachi would hang around the town and towards the end of the day return to the train station to greet his owner upon his return. One day the owner passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage and never made the return trip. The dedication, loyalty, and bond was so incredibly strong that for the rest of his life the dog made his way back to the train station and waited for the return of his owner. When the owner didn’t return the dog would return home and repeat the routine the next day.

I was reminded of this story last weekend. Holly and I were helping my daughter move to her new apartment. We pulled out of our house about 11:00 AM and as I found out later in my haste to get on the road after the truck was loaded I had left the front door ajar.

Around 1:30 I received a call on my cell phone from my neighbor directly across the street from me. He says, “Mike – are you home?” I told him I wasn’t and asked why he was inquiring. He chuckled and said that he noticed the front door was open and Kali was sitting on the front porch. Kali is never left alone in front of the house so my neighbor knew something was not right. My neighbor, on his cell phone, now begins to walk across the street and Kali stands up to greet him. He walks in the house and Kali follows. Smokey was inside and they both took a sit in front my neighbor, now standing in my living room, as we talked on the phone. He chuckled again and secured the house with both dogs safely inside.

Holly says, “what’s up, who called you?”. When I told he what happened she says, “yeah, whenever you leave Kali always waits by the door that you left from. She’s like that dog Hachi. She would have probably waited on the porch all day until we got home”.

I was grateful that Kali was safe in spite of my mistake. But I was also a little bit proud that “my dog” would venture out the open front door, lie down, and camp out waiting for my return.

Our bond is strong. It always has been. And it always will be. My Golden Kali and I!

4 Comments

The best part is my neighbor who is also a good friend, has never had a dog. He has only recently begun to get to know dogs through Kali and Smokey. He told me that it was such a comforting feeling to see Kali and Smokey sit there calmly in front of him while he called me. They were receptive to what he said to them and it made him feel so good. How cool is that!?